Officer, Artillerist · Confederate

Stephen Elliott

? – 1866

Commanded Fort Sumter from September 1863 to May 1864, through the second great bombardment; found a silenced fort and left a formidable earthwork.

Several members of this family carried the same name in the same period. Only the officer who commanded Fort Sumter is described here.

Charleston

Elliott took Fort Sumter on 4 September 1863, at the moment it stopped being an artillery post and two days before Morris Island was evacuated, on the condition that his garrison would be limited and that no Federal flag would fly over the place while Beauregard commanded the department. He had been sent down for a day to see what he was accepting, came back in under twenty-four hours, and asked for it. He held it through the naval assault of 9 September, through forty-one days of the second great bombardment, and through the magazine explosion and fire.

Life

Johnson's chapter on his command ends with the plainest summary in the book of what he did with the fort: he found a dismantled and silenced work and left a formidable earthwork.

He went to Virginia in May 1864, was made brigadier-general, was severely wounded at the Crater, and died of the effects in 1866.

Service

  1. Majorcommissionedartillery · Confederate army4 September 1863 to 4 May 1864Fort SumterJohnson 1890
  2. Brigadier-Generalcommissionedinfantry · Confederate armyfrom May 1864Johnson 1890

Each rank is the rank held at the time described. A later promotion is shown only in its own dated entry.

Places

  • Commanded from Fort Sumter

    4 September 1863 to 4 May 1864 · confirmed

    TodayFort Sumter National Historical Park, Charleston Harbor, SC
    EvidenceNamed by Johnson as commanding the fort from 4 September 1863 to 4 May 1864.

    Johnson 1890

Burial

Not yet documented.

What is established, and on whose authority

  • verifiedCommanded Fort Sumter from 4 September 1863 to 4 May 1864.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedAccepted the command on condition that the garrison be limited and that no Federal flag fly over the fort while Beauregard commanded the department.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedHeld the fort through the naval assault of 9 September 1863 and forty-one days of the second great bombardment.Johnson 1890
  • verifiedWent to Virginia in May 1864, was made brigadier-general, was severely wounded at the Crater, and died of the effects in 1866.Johnson 1890
  • not establishedDate and place of birth.no source
  • not establishedBurial place.no source

Identity: verified. Last checked 31 August 2026.

Corrections to this record are welcome through the publisher.